How ApproveThis + Memberful via Zapier Cuts Membership Chaos (Without the Meetings)

When "Just Approve It" Isn't a Strategy

Let's be real – membership businesses run on two things: growing your community and not getting sued. Between signups, refunds, and those "why did they cancel?!" moments, your team's stuck playing whack-a-mole with spreadsheets and CC-all email threads. ApproveThis isn't another tool; it's the bouncer for your Memberful operations. We automate the "who needs to sign off on what" so you stop losing members to slow responses and your finance team stops having panic attacks at month-end.

Why This Combo Doesn't Just Work – It Actually Fixes Things

Memberful handles the money and members. ApproveThis handles the humans. Connect them via Zapier, and suddenly:

• Fraudulent signups? Flagged before they get access.
• Refund request from that difficult customer? Automatically routes to legal + their account manager.
• VIP member cancels? Triggers a retention offer approval chain.

We tested this with a 200-member yoga studio. Their "new member review" process went from 3 days to 12 hours. Because nobody was chasing down the studio manager via text while she's teaching downward dog.

Features That Matter (Not Just Buzzwords)

ApproveThis isn't fancy. It works because it does these things better than your current mess of Google Forms:

• Email approvals: Approvers don't need another login. Even your least techy board member can click "approve" from their phone.
• Thresholds: Auto-approve $5 refunds. Escalate $500 ones to the CFO without manual triage.
• Delegation: Your content moderator takes PTO? Their approvals shift automatically – no IT ticket needed.

Use Cases That Don't Suck (Real Examples)

1. New Member Vetting Without the Paranoia

The Problem: Your $500/month mastermind group gets a new applicant. Is that a legit CEO or a spam bot with a stolen credit card? Memberful sees the payment, but your team's scrambling to verify.

The Fix: Zapier triggers an ApproveThis workflow the second the signup happens. Routes to:

1. Support: Check for red flags in their application
2. Community Manager: Validate their LinkedIn/profile
3. Billing: Confirm payment cleared

Who Cares: Education platforms (avoiding cheaters), exclusive communities (keeping out trolls), any business where member quality impacts retention.

2. Refunds That Don't Tank Morale (or Margins)

The Problem: Customer demands a refund after using your course for 6 months. Your support agent caves to avoid a bad review. Finance finds out next quarter.

The Fix: Memberful's "order refunded" trigger starts an ApproveThis audit. Requires:

1. Support Lead: Why was this approved?
2. Legal: Does it violate terms?
3. Account Owner: Flag for future upsell attempts

Who Cares: SaaS companies with churn issues, coaches with money-back guarantees, anyone who's been burned by "friendly refund" policies.

3. Cancellations That Actually Teach You Something

The Problem: Top-tier member leaves. Your team assumes it's price, but nobody asks. Three months later, 10% of your base is gone for the same fixable reason.

The Fix: When Memberful marks a subscription inactive, ApproveThis:

1. Auto-generates a exit survey offer (requires marketing approval)
2. Flags the account for a win-back discount (needs budget sign-off)
3. Triggers a post-mortem in your CRM (assigns to customer success)

Who Cares: Subscription boxes (reduce cancellations), associations (track member satisfaction), anyone who's tired of guessing why people leave.

Setting This Up Without Losing Your Mind

Zapier's the middleman here. If you've ever ordered DoorDash, you can do this:

1. Pick Your Trigger: In Zapier, choose Memberful events – new signup, refund, cancellation, etc.
2. Connect ApproveThis: Use the "Create Request" action. Map Memberful data (user email, plan type, etc.) to your approval form.
3. Set Who Approves: Assign roles – "All marketing directors" or "Either CFO or COO". Add conditional logic if needed ("If refund > $500, escalate to VP").

Pro Tip: Start with one workflow. The refund approval is low-risk and high-visibility. Shows ROI fast.

Which Teams Stop Hating Their Jobs

Membership Managers

No more herding cats to get signoffs on high-value members. Custom fields in ApproveThis show Memberful data (join date, plan tier) so approvers have context without jumping between apps.

Finance Teams

ApproveThis logs every refund approval with timestamps and comments. Come audit time, they've got a paper trail that's not buried in Slack.

Customer Success

See a member's approval history in ApproveThis dashboard. Know if they've had past refunds denied or special offers approved before jumping on a retention call.

The Part Where We Tell You What to Do Next

If your Memberful account has more than 100 members, you're already losing money on manual approvals. Not hypothetical – we've seen teams waste 15hrs/week on this crap.

Free option: ApproveThis trial + Zapier's free plan. Automate one workflow, see how it feels to actually take a lunch break.

Not DIY? Book a 15-minute demo. We'll build your first Zap live. If it doesn't save you 4 hours in the first week, we'll send you a $100 Starbucks card. (Yes, really.)